I'm heading out to pick up my pre-ordered copy of this now. I've spent about 3 hours playing already across the beta and early access. Like the title says, this is my first MMO, so Ive ben hesitant to do much of anything for fear of "doing it wrong. I'm running a light side Jedi warrior since I figure DPS would be easier to run that healing or other support - just get close to stuff and hit number buttons instead of having to see who needs help most.

I'm pretty much a blank slate - how can I get the most out of this experience and what should I avoid doing so as to not piss off veteran MMO'ers? And yes, I plan on joining GLHBothans soon.

Thanks.

There are numerous ways to play an MMO, it really just depends on what is right for you.

As an asshole MMO elitist (I only play Tanks and Healers), here are a few thoughts off the top of my head if you want RESULTS

• Min/Max - There is one key stat tied to your class, figure out what it is and get as much of it as you can. Also understand what your role is and ensure that all of your Skill Points go towards making you better at that role.
• Don't Buy Gear - Don't bother with the AH or gear vendors, it's a waste of money because you're going to replace that shit fast. The only exception to this is spending the planet-specific Commendations that you earn or purchasing Orange gear that you want to continually upgrade.
• Know Your Role - Despite being a DPS build, depending on your class you may have certain auxiliary abilities such as Crowd Control or Aggro Reduction. Understand what all your 16-20 abilities do, not just the primary 4-6 that you use to do the bulk of your damage. Do not pull aggro. Do not break CC.
• Pick A Trade - Crafting/Gathering is so easy in this game, there's almost no reason not to. If you can dedicate yourself to it then you'll be able to help yourself and your allies.
• Do Space Missions - After you get your ship, go to the first space vendor you see, buy all the cheap level 1 ship equipment, and put it on. This should be enough to complete all of the space missions you get. These missions can be repeated daily (make sure you get the quest from your console first!) for good XP and credits. For the harder missions just spam Spacebar.
• Manage Your Companion - If you are 2-manning content, keep track of how your companion interacts with your teammate. If your teammate is tanking, turn off your companion's taunt. If your teammate is CC'ing, turn off your companion's AoE abilities. If your companion can heal, make sure your teammate knows so he or she can focus on something else if necessary.
• Stop Spending At 23 - Around the time you reach level 23, unless you have something like 20k credits banked up already, you'll want to stop spending. This is because when you hit 25, there's going to be a 48k credit dump to get your speeder training and your speeder. Stop buying/upgrading abilities. Stop buying new trade schematics. Stop sending your companions on crew missions. Getting a speeder at 25 is the most important thing you can do.
• Don't Loot During Combat - With how frenetic combat can get, it's going to happen accidentally. Don't sweat it. But don't distract yourself mid-battle with the shiny corpse, especially if it is glowing Green, Dark Blue, or Orange. The loot will still be there when everything is dead.
• Need Before Greed - When a superior quality item drops you will have the choice to roll either Need or Greed. ONLY roll Need immediately if it is an upgrade for your character. If it is an upgrade for your companion, ask your group first. If no one else Needs the item for their main character, then roll need for your companion. Knowing what types of gear every class uses will help you do this quickly and efficiently.

These are just some general guidelines and if any of it seems unclear feel free to ask. Make sure you do it as a Reply because I probably won't check this thread again unless I get a notification. Oh and one more thing.

DO NOT PULL AGGRO. DO NOT BREAK CC.

As a DPS class it can be tempting to /flex your muscles and hit as hard and as fast as possible. This is the #1 reason why core MMO players tend to look down on DPS. Help change that perception by managing yourself. Keep your DPS on the main target, avoid the urge to AoE unless you and your Tank agree that it is appropriate for the encounter, and DO NOT hit anything that has been CC'ed. These are simple concepts but they're easy to forget in the heat of the moment, especially when your trip from 1-50 is going to primarily consist of you doing as much fucking damage as you possibly can.

GL;HB

Single player stuff is pretty simple, it'll teach you everything you need to know. I'll give you some group tips.

If you're playing in a group for a heroic or flashpoint, ask someone to mark targets. Then you know exactly what they want you to attack and in what order. Then just follow instructions.

You seem to understand tank, heals, dps. If you attack what the tank wants you to attack, it's his responsibility from there. The tank will generally try to point enemies away from you and the healers, let him. He'll try to face it against a wall or corner, and you just wail on the enemy's back.

If someone says "cc" or "float" regarding an enemy, they're going to use a skill that stuns or incapacitates that enemy. If it doesn't take damage, it'll just float there, letting you focus on other enemies. CC is crowd control, it's super useful, so just make sure you know which enemy is being floated and then avoid attacking it until the active enemies are down.

Enemies are called mobs (from 'mobiles' way back in the day), and they're usually in packs in the group quests. Causing an enemy to focus on you instead of the tank is getting aggro, and the initial attack to start fights is called either aggroing or pulling. Mobs that show up later into a fight, reinforcements or another group that gets pulled in are called adds (additionals).

Dps is a good place to start an MMO. If you have a good group leader, all you have to do is follow instructions. And you'll eventually pick up the other stuff.

Use your mouse to turn your character.

Oh, and don't stand in fire.

StarvingGamer pretty much said all of it. I'm a level 20 Sith Marauder now (DPS) and the main issues I have is breaking CC and looting during combat. Mostly because it's accidental issues that I need to work on. Breaking CC should be something that's easy to work on. Just leave all the in-active enemies alone. As far as accidental looting, it's a toughy. I guess just always remember to hit the number keys instead of clicking on the target because you never know when you might have killed him. A few things that I picked up about some of the characters:

• Sith Marauder = DPS
• Sith Juggernaut = Tank
• Sith Inquisitor = Heal
• Bounty Hunters/Mercenaries = Range

Of course there's still a lot that I need to learn. So for right now that's pretty much all I got.

@Brodehouse said:

If someone says "cc" or "float" regarding an enemy, they're going to use a skill that stuns or incapacitates that enemy. If it doesn't take damage, it'll just float there, letting you focus on other enemies. CC is crowd control, it's super useful, so just make sure you know which enemy is being floated and then avoid attacking it until the active enemies are down.

You see, that's my problem. I can never tell which ones are crowd controlled or floating. Is there an easier way to find out?

Really, the best thing you can do is very simple:

• Don't be an asshole.
• Communicate.
• Listen and learn.

The rest? Eh, you'll pick it up.

You'll probably want to be prepared to run into very rude people... but that's the way things are. You don't have to like everyone you meet, but if you do, either try to make the best of the situation or find another group.

Don't bother with min/maxing unless you are struggling or you reach the "endgame" (and really, don't worry about that at this point). Just play around, figure out what works for you. I've not read up on SW:TOR, but these games tend to be light on permanent choices - so don't worry about it.

If you find yourself struggling/being a burden on groups, you should probably find out what you are doing wrong, but that usually isn't a big problem while leveling.

@pw2566ch: If your group is CC'ing before a pull, generally someone will indicate which enemy is going to be CC'ed. Other than speaking up and asking, the best thing you can do is familiarize yourself with which classes have the ability to CC which type of mobs. If you know your teammates can only CC droids then you know to keep your eyes open during any droid encounter. If your teammate can CC humanoids but has to enter stealth first, you know what to watch for before the pull. Then you just have to familiarize yourself with the various CC graphics. Generally speaking if you see an enemy standing around/floating and not attacking, it's being CC'ed.

But communication is key. As dungeons start to become more difficult, it is not uncommon to designate a kill order before each pull which should help you keep things straight in your mind.

@StarvingGamer: Reading that post has immediately squashed my curious desire to play this game. It's an MMO, I have to get that through my head and understand I will never like them.

Not putting your post down, it's great to help educate what an MMO entails.

@MikeFightNight: Well like I said at the beginning of my post, there is no single "right" way to play an MMO. He was asking in terms of DPS and not making groups mad so I told him what I could from a core perspective. But ToR can just as easily be played by yourself or with a buddy who won't care whether or not you're playing to perfectly min/max. If you just want to explore the world and enjoy the story in ToR you can totally do that, and you should have no trouble finding a casual, social, friendly time if you join either of the GB guilds.

I'm willing to bet that 99% of the GB'ers playing ToR are not assholes like me :D

You should know that if you choose the Fatman as your server you'll be looking at queues of an hour at 10:30 in the morning on a Tuesday :(.

LFG= Looking for Group.

LFM = looking for more.

Learn to hotkey everything.

Respecs go up in price exponentially in this game. Pick a way to play for now and stick with it til they let us run two skill trees.